


A Temporary Thing

by paintedwolf



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 12:10:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10571034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedwolf/pseuds/paintedwolf
Summary: Duke might have left Haven, but he wouldn't be gone forever. At least, that's what Nathan thinks as he goes to fetch back Duke's truck from the edge of the shroud.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a conversation about Nathan driving Duke's truck like no big deal in 5x15. Because we all know it was because he missed Duke and not because it was practical or...

Dwight had been the one to mention it. 

At first, they were both taken aback by how quickly he’d made the leap from  _ Duke is gone _ to “Where’s his truck?” and “Is it still running?” but neither of them could deny the practicality of it, nor did they really have the energy to blame Dwight for thinking that way. He was, after all, taking this whole running-the-town thing pretty seriously. 

Things were a mess, and they knew they needed every resource they could get their hands on. The truck was no substitute for Duke, but if one thing was certain, he would’ve been prepared enough that it  _ was _ running and would be for a while, probably even had several stashes of emergency gas on board, along with other supplies they could make use of.  It just hadn’t occurred to either of them at the time that the truck should come with them. All they’d really been able to do once the shroud had spit Nathan back out again and it was pretty clear Duke just wasn’t coming back, was climb into the Bronco and head back home.  They hadn’t said a word to each other the entire time. Nathan’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel, eyes focused solely on the road in front of them, and Audrey found herself swallowing continuously against the urge to cry.

Nathan volunteered almost immediately to go and get it when Dwight brought it up, argued that he’d have to walk, since there was no use wasting even the little amount of gas it’d take to drive out there. Audrey just gave him an understanding smile, knowing that both his wanting to bring the truck back personally- and walking there to do it- didn’t really have much to do with being practical at all.

It didn’t take him long to reach the end of town. He’d slipped out early two days later- it had been mostly dark by the time he and Parker got back from dealing with another outbreak of new Troubles the day after Duke left- and even he wasn’t going to argue that being out at night wasn’t a good idea right now. So he’d got up just as the sun was peeking out over the horizon- wasn’t like he’d slept much anyway- and went to go make coffee and tried not to think.

“You want some company?” Audrey had gently asked as he’d slipped on his clothes, trying not to wake her. He should have known that wouldn’t have worked, and looking at her drawn face, he suspected she’d had about as much sleep as him, anyway.

“It’s just a car,” he shrugged. “No point in us both going out. You should try to get some more sleep.”

Audrey nodded, and for once didn’t argue. She knew he was just putting on a brave face, that Duke leaving had hit him pretty hard, and this was something he felt he needed to do.

“Be safe, okay?”

“Promise,” he said, kissing her on the forehead, “I’ll be back soon.”

There were probably about a dozen other, more useful things he could have been doing, and several more people who could’ve gone instead, not to mention that it wasn’t really what they might call the highest of high priorities when there were still at least a handful of working vehicles throughout Haven. But something about the idea of anyone else driving Duke’s truck just hadn’t sat well with him. It was kind of stupid really, but who else would know that there was a trick with her, that you had to jiggle the key a little in the ignition to get her started, that she veered just slightly to the left when you hit forty? At least he knew if he drove her, they’d both get back in one piece. 

It sounded ridiculous even to himself.

He knew what he should be expecting when he approached the shroud, but even so, once he laid eyes on the truck, sitting innocuously in the early-morning sunlight as if Duke had just stepped out and would be back any minute, it didn’t keep him from stumbling to an awkward stop, or craning his head slightly as if Duke might suddenly pop out from somewhere with a knowing smile and a smartass remark.

He sighed and trudged over, absently running a hand along her side, and peered into the driver’s side window just long enough to see that the keys were still in the ignition. At least that took care of one potential problem. Then his eyes flicked away from the truck, towards the endless wall of grey in front of him. He searched up and down and across, trying to find form in the monotony, and feeling embarrassed at the way his body seemed to twitch toward it each time he thought he might have spotted something. God, but he wanted Duke to just walk out of that glorified rain cloud and  _ come home.  _ There were so many things he’d wanted to say to him, that should’ve been said after the Trouble bomb and Duke almost dying, but things just kept getting in the way, and it wasn’t like Duke had given him an inch, wanting instead to push on and deal with everything else because there wasn’t any other way to make up for what happened than to  _ fix it.  _

He wasn’t even mad; not like the first time Duke upped and left. This wasn’t the same as back then, when he’d felt like Duke had abandoned him and the town and everything else.  Hell, he knew what it was like to feel you’d broken something so badly that it was better for everyone to just  _ get the hell away _ before you made things worse. But neither Duke nor Audrey had been around to tell him it was okay back then, that maybe things were a mess but they could fix it, and he knew that might have been all he’d needed to stay and try make things work.  Even if half the rest of the town had hated him, he knew that if they had his back he’d have been able to keep going. It hadn’t, after all, taken that much convincing from Duke to get him to go back to Haven, even made the idea of facing the people he’d let down just a little bit easier. 

Part of him couldn’t help thinking that maybe they hadn’t done enough to let Duke know that it wasn’t his fault, that they were there for him, that whatever he thought, they  _ did _ need him.

Mostly- and he knew it was selfish as all hell- Nathan just missed him.  Even after just a handful of days, he already felt like something was missing. He wasn’t sure when exactly he’d started getting so used to Duke just being there, or even when he’d started to  _ want _ Duke to be there, but it suddenly felt strange that he wasn’t, that Nathan didn’t know when he’d see him again, didn’t know if he’d ever get to tell Duke that-

He shook his head and turned away, and a glance at his watch said he’d been standing there for close on ten minutes now. Whatever he’d hoped might have happened there that day, Duke clearly wasn’t coming back just yet, no matter how much Nathan wanted him to.  He walked back over to the truck and slipped inside, started the engine with barely a thought.  He dropped his head for a few seconds onto the steering wheel and just breathed, and fought the impulse to give up because everything suddenly felt that much harder. But he couldn’t let Duke down, knew it was up to him and Audrey to keep things in shape as much as they could while he was...away. 

“Alright, Duke,” he said, sitting up and staring once again into the shroud, “If this is what you gotta do...but just so you know, this isn’t permanent. I’m only looking after her ‘til you get back.”

He slid the truck into gear and pulled away, swinging her into a quick U-turn before heading back into town. He switched on the radio, half-expecting static, but smiling slightly as it churned out some bluesy song he’d never heard before, that he imagined Duke sliding into the tape deck because sometimes he hated the silence as much as Nathan did.

When he got home seven minutes later, and turned back to look at the Bronco and the truck parked alongside each other, it was almost easy to forget that Duke wasn’t waiting inside with Audrey, having commandeered the kitchen to make pancakes for breakfast.

_ Just until you get back, Duke,  _ he thought as he walked inside and closed the door behind him.

 


End file.
